The function of nursing is to restore and/or maintain maximum functional capacities in each patient; the assessment of the quality of nursing care should reflect the goals of the profession. Work conducted during the previous years has demonstrated that it is possible to generate satisfactory criterion measures of the quality of nursing care of hospitalized patients. The objective of the project described in this proposal is to continue to refine, develop, and validate outcome measures of patients'physical and emotional status, and the extent of their knwoledge above how to maintain or improve their health. The final instrument could be used to evaluate the impact of nursing care with a variety of types of patients in a number of different inpatient settings. Instrument development will proceed within a framework that identifies important nursing care problems presented by sub-groups of patients and the outcomes. Data to determine the applicability and relevance of each item will be collected from a field study. Standard test construction techniques will be used to determine the final instrument, its statistica reliability and validity.